Open Minds 2013 Grade 8

1. Abner: Systems:

1.1. The Japanese had a system of killing, a system of ruling the country, and a system of sending out their troops.

1.2. Their system of killing was that when there were people who tried to escape, use a radio, and to anything else they would be executed, massacred, bayoneted, Be-headed and shot.

1.3. The Japanese system of sending out their troops was determined by General Yamashita

1.4. Execution Squads

1.5. Navy

1.6. Airforce

1.7. Army

1.8. Special Unit Squads

1.9. General Yamashita was the controller of the war.

1.10. Their system to start the war was to:

1.11. The Japanese attacked from the west side of Singapore.

1.12. Their first aim was to take Adam Park and Bukit Timah Hill because it was the highest point in Singapore which is an advantage because you can see anyone who comes to attack you from any direction.

1.13. Another plan was that they blocked the fresh water reserve from the rest of the Singaporean Malays and Chinese.

1.14. The Japanese had also sent a troop to invade and take over Pulau Ubin.

1.15. The Japanese men and women

1.16. The Japanese system for keeping their POWs (Prisoners of War)

1.17. They kept four prisoners in small rooms

1.18. Later on they moved them to a jailhouse and crammed 5000 POWs into the place which can only store 600.

1.19. The Japanese men and women had systems of their own The Japanese system for keeping their POWs (Prisoners of War) They kept four prisoners in small rooms Later on they moved them to a jailhouse and crammed 5000 POWs into the place which can only store 600.

1.20. Their system to start the war was to: The Japanese soldiers went to opium hill (aka Bukit Chandu) to take the pasir panjang high point which was very crucial for the Japanese to fully occupy Singapore. During the fight between the malay regiment and the Japanese at Bukit Chandu the Malay regiment started to run out of ammunition and food. During this period the Japanese was also attacking China in need of their commodities. Ex: Rubber Tin

1.21. General Yamashita was the controller of the war. Their system to start the war was to: The Japanese attacked from the west side of Singapore. Their first aim was to take Adam Park and Bukit Timah Hill because it was the highest point in Singapore which is an advantage because you can see anyone who comes to attack you from any direction. Another plan was that they blocked the fresh water reserve from the rest of the Singaporean Malays and Chinese. The Japanese had also sent a troop to invade and take over Pulau Ubin.

1.22. The Japanese men and women had systems of their own The Japanese system for keeping their POWs (Prisoners of War) They kept four prisoners in small rooms Later on they moved them to a jailhouse and crammed 5000 POWs into the place which can only store 600.

2. Anna: Change:

2.1. The perspective of the Japanese changed on how they looked at Singapore and Great Britain they had seen them as just another country but when they wanted to take over and they did the worse kinds of punishments. They would have electrocuted, shocked, whipped, clamp finger nails off, and sometime they were beheaded and shot. They would all be cramped into a cell that was only meant for one person, and diseases would be spreading like wild fire. The Japanese can’t think of WW2 without thinking about what they’ve done. I know than the way people live today had changed in many ways, in both security, defense and weapons, the people must also have changed after all their loved ones might have died serving their country. The families who have lost they own would never be the same and because of how many people were captive some still live today and tell their story about how horrible the Japanese were, and this then gets passed on through generations.

2.2. Peoples fears changed after the war and people feared more things, for example Elizabeth Choy was a prisoner who, with her husband, held a food store, they we captured and the story follows Choy as she is taken away one day and tied down, no able to move left, right nor up or down. Choy’s husband is then brought up to her and she is stripped naked as they electrocute her. IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!!!!

2.3. When the British soldiers were suppose to be sent to Africa but then had to land in Singapore because their was war and during they're trip to Africa things had changed in Singapore so they had to help Singapore first. They were ready for camouflage in Africa but then when they arrived in Singapore they hadn’t trained for jungles and didn’t succeed that well.

2.4. They were ready for camouflage in Africa but then when they arrived in Singapore they hadn’t trained for jungles and didn’t succeed and had to use weapons than weren’t meant for tropical climates.

3. Bukit Chandu

4. Bukit Timah Hill

5. Old Ford Factory

6. Imperial Japanese Army War flag

7. Japanese Perspective

8. Giulia: Conflicts and Cooperations

8.1. The conflict between the Japanese and Singaporeans is that the Japanese took over Singapore and killed a lot of their people. They had the an operation called Sook Ching; this operation was made when the Japanese were becoming suspicious of the chinese.Two days after taking charge of Singapore the Japanese made all the Chinese men from ages 16-50 to report to a screening sentence. They were inspecting and purifying the chinese men to find out if they had anti Japanese sentiments.The men were forced to march in front of these hooded Japanese men a single nod from the Japanese men to a singaporean meant that they were instantly in detained any student, teachers or guys with tattoos were instantly detained without a nod and the rest were chosen randomly. They tied all of the detained people up and dragged them on trucks and lorries and brought them to remote beaches to be executed by being beheaded or masacured, shot or stabbed .Two weeks after the surrender, the singaporeans estimated that 25,000 innocent Singaporean Chinese men had been murdered.

8.2. Another conflict that came up was that becuase the British wouldnt surrender singapore the Japanese took over the McRichie river that stopped the water coming into the city for the people to drink. So the public had no more water because the Japanese were blocking the root to get water. The Japanese also blocked the air so Britain couldn’t send anything by airplane, if they did the Japanese would stop it and fight it and the British force wouldn’t be prepared.

8.3. Percival didn’t cooperate with Yamashita so Yamashita had to bully and take over parts of Singapore for Percival to surrender singapore. Finally Percival went down the driveway at the Old Ford factory with the white flag that meant he was surrendering. Yamashita and Percival was in the Old ford factory discussing the surrender. Yamashita was bullying percival until percille had to surrender.

9. Lauryn: Culture

9.1. When the Japanese took over Singapore, it was Chinese New Year. Two weeks later, the Singaporeans suspected that 25,000 innocent Chinese Singaporean men had been massacred by the Japanese. The culture when the Japanese were in Singapore was so different, oh so different.

9.2. Singapore, at that time, was a mix of both Chinese and Malay culture, but there was also a British and Indian mix because the British and the Indians were helping Singapore when at war. Singapore was mainly Chinese culture though, but all of that changed when the Japanese took over.

9.3. The religion was mostly Christian, because of the British, but Hindu and Buddhist temples were also built. Chapels were common with the

9.4. Prisoner’s of War (POW), who a lot of them were Australian and British.

9.5. Stanley Warren was a famous artist who was a POW. He painted many murals with the help of his fellow prisoners, who scrounged for as much paint and brushes as they could find. He painted the murals in prison chapels, using paint brushes made of human hair.

9.6. There were also many other POWs who drew and painted (these were called Wartime Artists) who painted scenes of the Japanese in Singapore. Now, in the modern times we can see how the Japanese occupied Singapore and all the things that the Japanese did. So this was more British and Australian than Japanese and Chinese.

9.7. Something more of Japanese culture was the Japanese quilting. 400 women and children in Changi made Japanese quilts for the men in all of the hospitals. Every square in a quilt has a story, meaning that each quilt was made with so much emotions and meaning. Only three quilts survived the war, and one of those quilts is currently held at the Australian War Memorial.

9.8. During The Occupation, all the POWs were forced to kneel in the Japanese fashion, and the Japanese were very rough with all the prisoners.

9.9. All the citizens of Singapore were forced to bow down to every Japanese person they saw.

9.10. Once the Japanese had taken over Singapore, the leaders forced all of the POWs to build many different kinds of Japanese bridges and Japanese shrines. There were also many memorials built by the POWs for the Japanese, including the one on Bukit Timah hill. One of the most famous shrines was called the Shinto Shrine. Over the next three years, there were many ‘Shinto’ services and burial ceremonies were held periodically at the war memorial at Bukit Timah hill, to honor the dead Japanese who died in the war.

10. Changi Museum

11. Kranji War Memorial